


Horizon

by PokeChan



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5771299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeChan/pseuds/PokeChan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Headcanon about what happened after the events in Skyward Sword</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horizon

The Surface was a place far more vast and diverse than anyone in Skyloft would have ever been able to guess. Seemingly unending expenses for forest covered the earth in shades of green and bursts of bright color. Unforgiving deserts stretched into the distance while deep canyons cut jagged pits into the sands. More water than anyone had ever seen pooled in great dips in the land and teemed with life both above and below the waters. Great spikes of earth rose up towards the sky and housed fire that flowed like water. The world below was more than anyone could have imagined.

And they had been all over it. Alone Link had scaled the mountains and dove into the great lake. With Impa at her side Zelda and faced the deserts and the shadows that moved through the canyons. Groose had seen what lurked in the forests and what hid in the roots and branches. They had seen what curses lay upon the land.

Together they had found the blessings as well. They had wandered into fields filled with radiant butterflies and fireflies. Side by side they had watched water cascade down from a mountain and marveled at the rainbows cast by the waterfall. Beautiful sunsets had been witnessed over gleaming desert sands and sunrises had thrown the silhouettes of the mountains into perfect contrast against the pink sky.

They had seen the good and the bad. They had watched time and people come and go.

With heavy hearts Link and Zelda watched Groose take a group of adventurers out into the world while they stayed and helped build a kingdom. They laid the foundations of Hyrule, always feeling the hollow left by their absent friend.

Over the years they grew, as did the settlement. They from children of the sky to rulers of Hyrule, their settlement into a kingdom. The people spread out, groups traveling in search of their own corner of this new world. The love of the people who left still reached them in letters of excited discovery and notes to family left behind. The world was open before them for the first time in memory and no one could fault another for wishing to see it.

Letters from Groose were a rare treat and could never be returned. He had established a town in the desert and the people there were excitedly exploring and discovering lost technologies in the caves. They had appointed him their leader and looked to him for guidance. 

_“I don’t really know why,”_ one of his letters had read. _“I’m as new to this as they are, give or take a battle with a giant hellbeast, but they trust me and respect me. I would have never imagined this for myself in all those years we spent up in the clouds as children.”_

His letters were received with joy and wistful melancholy. Together, beside a fire, Link and Zelda read them and smiled. It was too easy to imagine Groose’s wide smile recounting the fascinating animals he described or to think of the excited gleam in his eyes as he drew up diagrams and instructions for inventions of his. Each letter was precious and signed very clearly “With love, Groose”.

Time continued to flow and the kingdom continued to flourish. Life moved on, uninterrupted by the quiet aching in the King and Queen’s hearts, until one day a stranger, broad shouldered and wind worn, appeared at the gates to the castle. Golden eyes in a tanned face shone with amazement at the town surrounding the castle and the happiness that charged the air around him.

The people knew this man, even if through story now more than personal interaction, and they led him up to the throne room where the King and Queen were finishing speaking with concerned townsfolk.

The reunion was tearful and filled with smiles. The rest of the day was spent in private, the three old friends laughing and talking and telling each other about everything.

“Why did you leave?” Link asked after Groose had told them about his people so at home in the harsh desert. “Why didn’t you keep leading them?”

Groose smiled and drained the last mouthful of wine from his glass. “I did my part. They’re comfortable where they are, they don’t need me anymore,” he said. “Besides, my daughter is more than enough to lead them.”

He had written fondly of a child before, told them of her wild spirit and strong will, how she’d reminded him of Link and Zelda so much at times it was a wonder she was not their child. They had been happy for Groose, to have found someone to love for even the short time she was in his life. She’d been lost to childbirth and Link had nearly traveled out to the desert on his own to lend comfort to Groose. The stories of his daughter had shown them that he still had love where he was and their worry for his wellbeing was lessened just a bit.

“Also,” he continued. “I missed you both. I went and saw a great deal of this land, but I want to be home now, with you two.”

There had never been anyone else, Groose had told them, that could hold a candle to the love he had for Zelda and Link. He had found happiness away from them, but he had always missed them each and every day. 

Leaning forward Zelda kissed Groose’s forehead affectionately. “We missed you, too.”

Groose stayed with them after that. The three of them ruling in harmony and happiness to the end of their days. Children were born, rosy cheeked and cheerful and when Zelda’s first daughter looked out at the kingdom with golden eyes and her second son was born with hair as red as the setting sun no one was surprised. Four children called the three of them parents and as the world grew and moved on so to, eventually, did they.


End file.
